Well we blinked and it is last day. The fastest week in our lives. It seems like it was just first day and we were learning the students names. Now we are friends and true brothers and sisters of the fire service.

The week was filled with long hot days and tough physical training and not one complaint. In fact, it was just the opposite. They wanted more, the students took every opportunity to pick our brains.

When you do an capacity building operation you never know exactly what you are getting into in terms of training delivery. The GlobalFire team prepared lesson plans, powerpoints and brought what they needed to facilitate this. But you have to be fluid, you must adapt to the situation, which we did. Lessons were changed at the last minute, new badly need subjects were added, we did our very best to meet their needs. As example, the BFP had chainsaws and no training. Two GlobalFire instructors are chainsaw instructors and they designed a course to show them the safe operation of a chainsaw. They had a very emotional response from one student who explained that he could not get out of his station after the typhoon because of downed trees and had a chain saw but did not know how to use it. He thanked GlobalFire very much as now that will not happen again.

It was a great week of instruction. Filled with knowledge sharing, friendship and laughter.